New York: Monica Lewinsky, the White House intern who burst into limelight due to her alleged affair with former US President Bill Clinton is all set to turn producer with a TV series about her own life. The series is being made by cable network ‘FX’.
Titled ‘Impeachment’, the short series deals with the impeachment of Bill Clinton in 1998. The role of Monica Lewinsky will be portrayed by Beanie Feldstein while Sarah Paulson will play government whistleblower Linda Tripp, the person who secretly recorded the phone calls in which the White House intern secretly described her relationship with the then American President.
FX’s announcement of the series was immediately followed by online criticism. A number of Twitter users said that the network’s intended premiere date of September 27, 2020, could affect the final stretch of the presidential campaign.
“This is a completely valid (story) cycle for ‘American Crime Story’,” FX chairman John Landgraf said in a statement Tuesday. “There’s a lot of nuance in this story that people don’t know. People are going to be very interested in this, and it’s going to be a brilliant show,” Landgraf added.
Impeachment is based on a book by reporter Jeffrey Toobin. The script for the series has been written by playwright Sarah Burgess. It aims to tell the Bill Clinton scandal saga from the perspective of the women at the centre of it in a compelling way.
Landgraf said that he is pleased as Monica Lewinsky has agreed to sign on as a producer. “The fact that Monica herself wants to be involved in it maybe tells you something about the quality of the material,” pointed out Landgraf.
Although the role of the President has not yet been cast, ‘FX’ also announced that Broadway star Annaleigh Ashford will play Paula Jones, the Arkansas employee who sued Clinton for sexual harassment. ‘Impeachment’ will go into production next year.
Agencies